Bill Clinton stresses voter turnout at annual Ohio Democrats' dinner

Former President Bill Clinton accused Republicans of trying to restrict voting and stressed the importance of turnout in off-year elections in a speech at the state Democratic Party's annual dinner on Friday.

Republican-controlled legislatures in Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Wisconsin have taken recent steps to curtail early voting by limiting the days on which it's available. But Clinton said it's possible for Democrats to overcome the challenges of getting their base to the polls.

"The only way we can do that is to give people something to vote for and a clear choice," he said.

Nearly 2,500 people were expected to attend the dinner in Columbus on Friday night, party officials said.

Clinton's visit helped raise money in one of the nation's top presidential battleground states. It came as his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, weighs a second bid for the White House.

The former first lady and secretary of state has been on a book tour that has attracted intense media attention and resembled the frenetic pace of a campaign kickoff. She won Ohio's Democratic primary in 2008 over the party's eventual nominee, Barack Obama. Her husband carried Ohio both times in his presidential elections.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said the former president has been eager to help and understands the importance of the fall governor's race. He said neither Clinton has said no to the party's invitations.

"They know that Ohio matters," he said. "It matters not just in 2014 but beyond."

The former president remains in heavy demand as a fundraiser and adviser. He also has been helping Democrats battle to keep their U.S. Senate majority and win other races.

The dinner is the state party's largest fundraising event. Asked how much the party would take in, Redfern said, "A lot."

The money will be used to help the party's statewide candidates.

Democrats will need it going into the fall elections. Republican Gov. John Kasich has amassed a sizeable fundraising advantage over his Democratic challenger, Ed FitzGerald. The first-term governor has banked $9.3 million, compared with the $1.9 million that FitzGerald had on hand, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.

FitzGerald told reporters at the party's dinner that he expected Kasich to always carry a money edge.

"The question is are we going to have the resources to tell our side of the story," he said, adding that he believed he would.

Kasich also has been running ahead of FitzGerald in recent polls.

In a Quinnipiac University poll last month, Kasich led FitzGerald 50 percent to 35 percent. Just over 50 percent of those surveyed gave Kasich a favorable mark on how he has handled the economy and jobs, the top two issues among voters, according to the poll. The survey of 1,174 likely voters was conducted by phone and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.